Hamilton: In difficult seasons you start to doubt yourself

Lewis Hamilton finished the championship in third place, which is better than a year ago when he was only sixth. Although he scored more points then than in 2023, the battle that season was of a different nature.

After the season finale in Abu Dhabi, the seven-time world champion admitted in an interview with the BBC that he began to doubt his own abilities more than once this year.

“Ultimately, in such difficult seasons as this, there are always moments when the thought creeps in: ‘Is it me or is it the car? Can I still win, or has that ability been lost?

You see, the magic happens when everything comes together, when you become one with the machine, and then that special spark appears, and it is an absolutely incredible state. And you try to find him.

I’m only human. In this world, when someone says he has no doubts, he is not admitting the obvious. We are all human.”

Initially, Mercedes’ technical department decided to develop the unusual concept based on the W13 chassis in 2023, although Hamilton was against this. Furthermore, the concept went against the grain of Red Bull Racing and other Mercedes rivals whose cars were faster. Hamilton immediately realized, even during the W14’s maiden run at the Silverstone circuit in February, that his team had made a mistake.

“I remember the driving experience was absolutely the same and the car didn’t make the best impression,” he said. – But I had so much hope… Then, already during the tests and training in Bahrain, several problems came to light, and I just realized that this year would be long.

Of course I was angry, because I asked for certain changes to be made to the chassis, but this did not happen. A very serious conversation took place with the team. No one knew exactly what caused the problems or how to solve them.

But I had experience from the previous season, so together with the team we started to figure everything out, and the atmosphere at such meetings began to improve. This allowed me to maintain a positive attitude. I understood that I couldn’t give up, I had to try to get the most out of this car regardless of the results.

But I believe we have finally seen the guiding star and are going there, which hasn’t been the case in the last two years. However, the route does not promise to be direct. There were some moments, certain decisions that were made earlier, that ultimately put us at a dead end, where nothing more could be done because there were budget constraints and other things in place.

Look at Red Bull – this team works fantastically efficiently: last year in Bahrain they encountered a problem with the car’s vertical sway and resolved it in less than a week.

In general, the process of finishing a machine is reminiscent of building a wall: you lay brick by brick and the wall grows gradually. If we talk about working with aerodynamics, we can say that in our case we had to completely demolish the already built wall.

We had gathered a lot of information last year, when in fact we were forced to sharply reduce the level of downforce, after which we began to gradually increase it. But every time we added something, it just got worse. That is why it was not possible to realize improvements for a long time.

But I think we now understand the car’s characteristics much better. So of course I’m hopeful. Although not so much that it takes my breath away.”

There have been changes in the management of the Mercedes technical department – Mike Elliott, who was technical director, left the team for a month, and even before that James Ellison returned to the position of technical director, which Hamilton is very happy about.

“James has the psychology of a leader. He must be at the forefront of the battle, with a sword in his hand, shouting, “Advance! Fight!” I think he really inspires confidence in people,” Lewis explained. “I’m really happy he’s back, he has a fighting spirit and I think our friendship is stronger now than ever before.”

Before September’s Italian Grand Prix, it was announced that Mercedes had extended Hamilton’s contract for a further two years, meaning he will continue to compete in Formula 1, having already reached his fifth decade, although he will have to wait a few years ago assured he was not going to do this after the magpie. This is how he now explained the change in his mood:

“Life teaches you never to say never. But at that moment I definitely didn’t think I would perform for so long. The seasons have become terribly long now and you spend so much time without everyone. I’ve been doing this for sixteen years and it’s a tough experience.

There is a lot of glitz and glamor in Formula 1, and there are many positive aspects, but staying focused on winning, being consistently at the highest level, continuing to train and achieving the results that are expected of you – all this is very difficult. And this is enormous pressure.

I’m constantly in the spotlight, and this is a period where I don’t have the opportunity to win races. If I do win, everyone will say, “Well, he’s a seven-time world champion, he has 103 wins.” If I don’t perform well, I get criticized. Of course, there were times when I wondered if I wanted to continue experiencing all of this.

But I just love racing. When the engine of the car starts working, and all these people are around you, your crew, your engineers and mechanics, and you go into the pit lane, there is still a smile on your face – just like on the first day I got behind the wheel.

This year I actually did well in most races. I am gradually getting back to the level where I should be and I am happy with that.”